Collector
by RiverVixenElle
Summary: Betty Cooper was reported as abducted less than an hour after she was listed as a missing person. Seventeen hours and twenty-four minutes since she was last seen by a living, breathing resident of Riverdale. Sixteen hours and fifty-two minutes since her first cry for help was ignored by the people around her. Ten hours since her absence from school was brushed off by her friends an
1. Chapter 1

ONE

Abduction,  
Noun;  
'The act of someone making a person go somewhere with you, especially using threats or violence'

* * *

Betty Cooper was reported as abducted less than an hour after she was listed as a missing person. Seventeen hours and twenty-four minutes since she was last seen by a living, breathing resident of Riverdale. Sixteen hours and fifty-two minutes since her first cry for help was ignored by the people around her. Ten hours since her absence from school was brushed off by her friends and classmates. One hour since Alice Cooper noticed her daughter never made it home from school. Fifty-eight minutes since Alice realised her daughter never made it to school. Fifty-four minutes since she realised that her daughter, Betty Cooper, was missing, and with no explanation to go along with it.

* * *

March 18th AM

Alice Cooper left for work early that morning, not that it was unusual for her to be leaving anytime after six lately. The arrest of her husband had been enough for almost her entire staff to walk out on the Riverdale Register, so being severely understaffed meant working long hours so that they had a chance of barely scraping by. It wasn't an ideal situation, but all things considered, she remained strong willed, and kept her head high purely for the support of her daughters.

Following the arrest of Hal, Polly had made the decision to move back home. She still hadn't left San Francisco, but she was almost a week away from packing up her life on the West and moving back to her real home. Her real life. Of course, the added pressure of feeding three more mouths was going to test her financially, even with Polly agreeing to get a job and Betty picking up shifts at Pop's a few hours after school every day. Alice was in for a challenge, but she was determined to get through it.

So on March 18th, when she slept through her alarm and woke up at five, a time that only Alice Cooper would call late, she rushed trying to get ready, failing to notice the bed that was empty and dishevelled in the bedroom right across the hall from hers. Though even if she had noticed, it wasn't uncommon for Betty to sneak out during the nights and come back early in the morning, after her mother had left for work. Unbeknown to Betty that Alice knew about this, though this was something she kept quiet, as she knew what it was like to be a teenager in a town like Riverdale.

As she went to leave the house, she saw two sets of keys in the bowl next to the door.

"Betty! Your keys are by the door." She unlocked the door, waiting for a response, but just sighed at the silence. As much as she was used to it, being ignored was something she was never going to enjoy. Especially from her own daughter. "Don't be late" She added, though she knew that the day Betty Cooper was late for school would be the day that pigs sprouted wings and began to fly.

Alice enjoyed the drive to work most mornings. It was a time to see Riverdale in it's most natural but hidden beauty. She thought about how different her town was when she was younger, and everyone and everything seemed so normal compared to now. She sighed at the memories and focused on the short drive to the Register. It wasn't that far from her house, but she preferred to take the car in case she had to up and leave immediately. That wouldn't be unusual for someone in Riverdale.

Days at the Register were usually fast paced and busy since the Black Hood revealed himself as Hal Cooper, and now that she was down to three staff members, including herself, work started to pile up, and everyone working there had to take on double and triple shifts to get the work done. It was tiring, but in a way extremely rewarding when the finished the day's tasks.

However, March 18th was a relatively slow day. There wasn't much to report, and most of the articles had been finished by lunch, so she made the executive decision to send her staff home early, something that the old Alice would've never done. She usually enjoyed the slower days. It mean't less pressure to get jobs done, and she would work at a pace that was just right for her. However, her day took a complete 180 when she had a call from and unknown number on her phone.

Hesitantly, she picked up the phone. She was never one to answer unknown or blocked numbers, but something told her to answer this one. Call it mother's intuition if you will, but it was a feeling of unease that she had never felt before, though she didn't quite understand it yet.

"Hello?" She asked. The dead sound of static from the other side of the phone was enough to make anybody's skin crawl, but she didn't hang up. Instead, she spoke again. "Is everything OK?"

Once again, she had no reply, the muffled sound of silence slowly getting quieter until she could hear a faint whimpering in the background, that was almost dog-like. The sound sent a chill down her spine, and she hadn't realised her hands were shaking until the call terminated, and another call came through, this one with the contact of 'Jughead Jones' displayed on the screen.

She had saved her Jughead's number in her cell in case there was an emergency, or if she needed to get hold of Betty quickly. With everything that had gone on in their personal lives, Alice felt she needed that extra security to make sure the rest of her family was safe.

"Hello? Mrs Cooper are you there?" Jughead asked.

"Yes." She said quietly, then cleared her throat. "Yes, I'm here."

She swore she could hear Jughead breathe a sigh of relief on the other side of the phone.

"Good, that's good." He said. "Look, have you seen Betty today?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. Why would Jughead be asking about Betty's whereabouts? "Yes, I spoke to her this morning on my way out to work."

"Well maybe you should try and call her, because she didn't show up for school and she's not at home."

Alice started to get nervous. Betty missing school for any reason was extremely out of character, and for her to miss school and to not tell anyone was almost unheard of. She was certain that she was probably off following up a lead for something she was investigating for the Blue and Gold, something she would usually do, but she had been gone for an unusual amount of time, and Alice could feel inside that something wasn't right. Call it mother's intuition, she knew when she heard Jughead's concern that something wasn't right.

"I will now." She said shakily, hoping that Jughead wouldn't pick up on her momentary show of weakness. "Thank you, Jughead."

Alice put down the phone, and took a few breaths. She didn't know why she was worrying so much. She had just spoken to Betty that morning as she had left for work, so she knew she was safe somewhere. Though her convincing herself didn't give her any peace of mind, she called her daughter just to be sure.

It rang, and she waited for the call to go through, for Betty to pick up, but the three high-pitched beeps from the phone signalled that there was no answer, and Alice's heart dropped a little. She immediately grabbed her keys and bag, leaving behind the mountain of work on her desk, and drove back to her house to find out where her daughter was.

* * *

As she pulled up to the house, Alice spotted Jughead sitting on the porch, waiting for her arrival. She wasted no time in getting out and running to the teen, and he could tell that she was obviously shaken up a bit. He gave her a soft smile, but she ignored it, though he didn't expect anything different from her. She stopped in front of him, looking towards the door and then back at him.

"Have you been inside?" She asked. Jughead shook his head.

"No, but I climbed up to the window after she didn't answer the door or any of my calls, and the room was empty." Jughead explained. "I tried to open the window but it wouldn't budge."

"Okay." Alice said, and took a deep breath, and unlocked the front door into the house. As soon as she stepped inside, she could feel how unusually cold the house was. It was as if someone had turned on the AC on to its most powerful, but she was sure she hadn't turned it on that morning. She tugged at her sleeves as she looked around the room. It looked the same as the morning, the kitchen was completely free of mess, which meant that nobody had been in there since she left.

"She hasn't been down here." Alice whispered.

"What?"

"She hasn't been down here this morning." She repeated. "There's no dirty dishes. And the counter's clean."

Alice looked at Jughead, and then ran up the stairs calling out for Betty. Of course, there was no answer, and she knew there wasn't going to be, but a part of her inside hoped that there would be someone responding to her. Her room was as Alice had expected it. Her bed was a mess, her sheets just thrown on top of the mattress, but other than that, the room was immaculate.

The only sign that someone had been in the room was the untidy bed and the breathing of the two that were there currently, which caused some confusion in Alice. She saw her phone next to her bed, still plugged into the wall. Her bag was still hung up on the back of her door, and her shoes were still lined up on the rack in the corner. All twelve pairs.

"That's not right. All of her shoes are there." Alice said.

"Why would she go anywhere without her shoes?" Jughead asked, but his mind responded to the question before he had even finished asking it. "Oh." Both of them looked at each other as the realisation hit them.

"We need to call Sheriff Keller."


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

Fear,

Noun;

'A feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety of someone.'

* * *

_"That's not right. All of her shoes are there." Alice said._

_"Why would she go anywhere without her shoes?" Jughead asked, though his mind responded to the question before he had even finished asking it. "Oh." Both of them looked at each other as the realisation hit them._

_"We need to call Sheriff Keller."_

* * *

MARCH 18TH PM

"No, Jughead. I'm not involving Keller. Not yet." Alice shook her head. "Not yet."

Jughead looked at Alice dumbfounded. Her daughter was missing, and yet she didn't want to inform the police. Granted, Sheriff Keller didn't exactly have the best reputation, and everyone thought that there was something odd about the new Sheriff Minetta, but even so, they could do something about the situation. "I really don't think that's a good idea, Alice."

Alice wasn't listening to the teenage boy, instead averting her attention to her daughter's bedroom. Mere hours ago this was where her daughter was, safe and sound in her own bed asleep, probably dreaming about what her next article was going to be for the Blue and Gold, or about her plans for the weekend. Normal teenager things.

She didn't think about how Betty could've been dragged out of her bed, thrashing around the room trying to get out of the grip of a stranger. She didn't think about how she could've been coerced out of the house into the trap of someone holding a grudge. She didn't think about how she might've been taken by somebody that was familiar to her.

"Jughead, I mean this in the nicest way I possibly could. Keller is useless. Fact. We don't even know that Betty is missing, she could've just left for some time alone and forgotten her phone." Alice said, trying to convince Jughead not to think of the worst, but also to convince herself.

"That doesn't sound like Betty at all." Jughead said.

Alice looked at Jughead, then turned her back, shaking her head. "No." Alice sighed. "No, you're right, Jughead. This isn't good."

Jughead pulled out his phone to begin dialling the Sheriff's number, before Alice pulled the phone out of his grasp.

"I didn't mean phone Keller."

She walked to the other side of the room by the vanity, looking at the photos and pictures that adorned the border of the mirror. Betty seemed so happy, but even Alice knew that deep down some of those smiles weren't genuine. She could see the sadness in her eyes as she posed for the camera with Jughead at the bowling place, two nights before Jason Blossom's body was recovered at Sweetwater River.

She looked at the pictures of her and Archie years ago, just finishing middle school, posing on their last day outside the doors. Betty was upset at the fact she wouldn't be in school for two months, but Alice knew that that wasn't all that she was sad about. Alice and Hal had been going through another rough patch in their marriage, and though they made up in the end- again- it still took a toll on the two girls.

Alice looked at Jughead, who had followed her to the vanity, and sighed. "I think we need to make sure that she's missing and not just run away before we call someone."

As much as Jughead disagreed, and wanted to do the best thing to find his girlfriend, he obliged, knowing that protesting with Alice Cooper would get him nowhere. He did feel sorry for her- she had been through a lot during the past few months, and he feared that this, if it even came to anything, would be the thing that pushes her over the edge.

"Should I call my dad?" He asked, unsure as to whether that would help at all, but maybe the Serpents had seen or heard anything that could give them an idea of where Betty was.

Alice bit her lip, but nodded slowly, knowing that FP and the Serpents would be the next best alternative to Sheriff Keller.

It had taken no time at all for FP Jones to arrive at the Cooper residence, after receiving a relatively calm, but urgent, phone call off his son to 'get here now'. He skipped every red light and stop sign, and sped way above the speed limit to get there quickly, thinking himself lucky that there were no cops there to bust him.

"Alice! Jug!" He shouted, swinging open the front door and looking around frantically for anyone in the house.

"Up here!" Jughead called back. "I'n Betty's room."

He ran up the stairs towards the teen's bedroom, but relaxed when he saw Alice and Jughead sat on top of Betty's bed, no danger present. As he walked into the room, and got closer to them, he noticed that they both looked nervous, and slightly withdrawn. Alice's eyes were a slight tinge of red, like she had been crying, but had wiped them away quickly, and Jughead just looked like he was hiding something, his face painted with worry and guilt.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking around the room. "Where's Betty?"

Jughead looked at his father and sighed. "We don't know. She wasn't at school today."

FP looked at Jughead and Alice knowingly. He didn't know the young girl well, but knew her well enough to know she loved school more than shelved her own mother, sometimes, and for her to miss a day and have no explanation to go with it, or to have no-one know where she was, was a major red flag.

"I called Alice and when we came up, this is exactly how we found it." Jughead said.

FP looked turned to look at every corner of the room, but saw nothing amiss. "I don't understand. What am I supposed to be seeing?"

Alice shook her head. "The bed's not made."

"Could it be that she just forgot to make it this morning?" FP asked.

"Her shoes are all there. Why would she go out without any shoes?" Alice asked.

FP could see that Alice was beginning to get agitated. Obviously with everything that had happened, Alice had had a lot to deal with, and when your daughter being potentially missing is thrown on the plate, FP knew he had to be careful with what he said without making her explode, but also he didn't want her to make herself sick with worry.

"I don't know, Alice." He said.

"Yes, you're right, you don't know." She stood up, her face now inches apart from his. "You don't know a fucking thing about this family. I don't know why your son even called you here."

"I asked and you said yes." Jughead said.

"I did not."

"Alice, I'm just trying to help, OK?" He put his hand on her shoulder for reassurance, but she shrugged him off.

"But you're not helping." She sat back down on the bed, tears threatening to spill over.

FP could see that this was obviously breaking her down inside, Alice never backed down and let her emotions get the better of her this easy. She was headstrong, and sometimes a little arrogant because of it, but what people don't see is that she has her own problems. Her own issues. And even though on the outside she was stubborn, on the inside she was just as broken and fucked up as everyone else in Riverdale. And he had only just figured that out.

"Alice." He placed his hand back on her shoulder, this time she left it there. She needed the comfort. "Right now, Betty may need our help. And right now, we need do what is best for her."

He turned to Jughead, who was still shocked by Alice's sudden outburst of various emotions. "Son, I think you should go to the lake. Ask around and see if anybody knows anything, but keep this on the down low. We don't want everyone in town knowing that Betty's missing."

Jughead nodded, looking at his father for a few moments. In his eyes he saw hope, and determination. But he also saw fear. They would try as hard as they could, but at the end of the day, they were a gang, and they were human. They could only do so much, and guaranteeing Betty's safe return was not a promise that they could make. He left the room, sure as ever that he would find out what happened to his girlfriend.

"We will do everything we can, Alice." FP said.

"I know." She whispered, barely audible beneath her tears, which had now become sobs that echoed throughout the whole house. "But I know the Serpents, and as much as they protect their own, they're not miracle workers."

"Don't focus on that, Alice." He said. "Focus on the positives."

They shared a quiet moment, both praying that the Serpents could somehow perform a miracle and find Betty, but the moment was short lived as Jughead's voice disrupted the silence.

"Dad! You need to get down here."

Both Alice and FP ran down the stairs as fast as they could, stopping dead still at the bottom of the stairs, opposite Jughead, who was holding a sheet of paper in his hands, his face paler than the letter he was holding.

"He calls himself the Collector."


End file.
